The strongest bond
by ByTalo.ES
Summary: Kendall is worried about Carlos: He has a big secret that he has to find out as soon as possible. Both will suffer, but they have a unbreakable bond. Pairings and warnings inside. Rated M.


I promised a great story... And I always fullfill my promises! So here it is! Hope you people like it! And don't forget to read the final notes!

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**"The strongest bond"**, a Talo's 'Big Time Rush' story. **Chapter 1: _"Tests, changes, spies and almost-forgotten dates"_**

**Characters:** Carlos Garcia, Kendall Knight, Logan Mitchell, James Diamond, Camille, Stephanie King, Jo, Wayne Wayne, Katie Knight, Officer Garcia, Carlos' mother, Mrs. Knight, Logan's father, Kendall's mother, Alice Campbell (OC).

**Pairings:** Kendall/James/Carlos/Logan Friendship. Kendall/Jo. Carlos/Stephanie. James/Alice. Logan/Camille. ?/Carlos (Don't want to tell you yet). Hints of Kendall/Carlos.

**Warnings:** Male/Male interaction. Sex. Rape. Violence. Possibly language and Spanish phrases. Rated M.

**Disclaimer:** 'Big Time Rush' is not mine, but it will be someday. You guys will see... Everybody will see! -Laughs Evily-

**Beta-reader:** MinuteCloser2Failing. Thank you for all your help!

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_'Another day in the Palm Woods High School... Whoo!'_ a young Logan Mitchell thought sarcastically as the blocks that separated him from the aforementioned institute were reducing inevitably. A stream of air made him shiver; an unexpected cold front that came three days ago forced the inhabitants of the city to find warmer clothes at the bottom of their wardrobes. Nobody knew the reason of the sudden climatic change in the region. Logan had only managed to find his jacket and scarf, and although he was clothed warm enough, the boy was not feeling protected against the frosty breezes had to confront at the moment. Mitchell shook his head to forget the cold and to focus on the activities of today. _'Lets see,'_ he continued his train of thought, _'Today I have the Math test... I have to deliver the History report and... Crap! I forgot the Physics homework! Okay, Logan, relax; Physics is after lunch, and it's not so complicated, so you will have enough time to do it well.' _After deciding to change break-time to homework-time, the boy was surprised by the hand placed on his shoulder, which made him nearly jump out of his skin. After the initial shock wore off, Logan turned his head rapidly to identify the owner of the hand. "James! You almost killed me! You have to stop scaring me like that!"

"Hey, Logan, calm down," James took a long step, stopping in front of the smaller one and messing up his hair. "It's just a way of saying 'Hi'. It's not to scare you." He bit his lip after seeing the frown on Logan's face. "Besides, your reactions to it is too hilarious." James, unable to maintain his composure against that funny expression, bursted into laughter. "Just like your reactions when you're mad." Logan continued walking while James tried not to fall about laughing, recovering himself in the following seconds to discover that the short haired and way-too-pale boy was half-a-street ahead. "Hey!" he shouted while he began to run in order to catch up with the smaller one, achieving his objective at the corner, where both had to stop due to the 'Don't Walk' signal. "It is totally not cool to leave when someone's talking to you!"

"I thought that when you started to laugh at me was when you were finished," said Logan with obvious anger in the tone of his voice, "Besides, I'm in a hurry today."

"In a hurry for what?" asked the boy curiously.

"Because I didn't do my homework yesterday," murmured the younger one with his head hanging down, cheeks slightly reddened.

"You WHAT?" James held his hands to his head while running in circles around Logan. "Oh my God! It can't be! Doomsday has arrived!" he shouted, achieving what seemed to be a small outline of a smile, a smile that grew bigger and bigger until becoming a laugh. "And now you're laughing? It's worse than I could've ever imagined!" He kept up with his stupid antics, shouting loudly until Mitchell caught him with his guard down and lightly punched his cheek.

"Jackass," he said once he executed the punch, "I'm a human too. I can forget things that I have to do, just like you. That's why I want to get to school as soon as possible: to start my homework and to avoid losing my entire lunch break." No sooner said than done, he began to walk faster, something that James imitated.

"Well," said James stupidly as he continued following the younger one, "Can you help me with the Math test today?"

"If 'help' means helping you to study before the exam, no problem," Logan stopped to observe the face of 'please?' of James "But since I know that you mean it as giving you the answers during the test," he paused and sighed before continuing, "I am not going to help you cheat,especially if I have to be the one that gives you the answers." He noticed that James had not stopped staring at him with that pitiful expression. "Have you forgotten that the only one that can get to me with that hurt-puppy look is Carlos? You're wasting your time," Logan turned himself around, getting ready to start the march to school again when he noticed in front of him was a blonde-haired boy, looking at him with a smile caused by the amusing situation being carried out by the two adolescents. "Kendall!" exclaimed Logan with surprise after being aware that the guy in front him was none other than his best friend.

"What's up, guys?" he greeted them, shaking hands with James and then with Logan. "So what are you guys discussing this time?"

"Logan doesn't want to help me with today's test," explained an angry James.

"I don't suppose you asked him for help during the test, right?" The tall, brown-haired boy nodded. "You know perfectly well that Logie doesn't help during tests," said Kendall, noticing James trying the not-convincing puppy face once more. "I'm not going to help you cheat, James. Forget it. Besides," he smiled again, "The only one that can buy me with a puppy-face is Carlos."

"I know, I know," he replied, "But it doesn't hurt to try." Both Logan and Kendall exploded with laughter at that last remark.

"You guys know that I love hanging out with you and messing around," Logan commented, "But if you guys don't mind, I need to be at school as soon as possible." Taking advantage of the green light giving him the 'Okay' to cross, he started to run towards the school building, which was already in sight about a couple of streets away. The other two crossed the street in a calmer manner and continued talking about what each had done last night: James spent his time with Alice Campbell, his girlfriend for exactly six months and one day, celebrating their half-year anniversary. Kendall, on the other hand, having studied in the afternoon, had the entire night free to do whatever he wanted. His chosed to skate for a while and, later, to listen to his music while lying on his bed before falling asleep at the dream's feet.

Finally, they were facing the five-floor, street-long building. "Here we are again, Palm Woods," exclaimed an excited James, "The last day is quickly coming." Since they were in their last year, only a couple months separated the boys from their graduation. And with barely any time left to finally be getting out of school, the brown-haired boy's happiness was nothing but increasing in those passing days. "I just can't wait to dance with Alice at the prom!"

"If I were you, I'd be more worried about passing my final exams," said Kendall; he knew that this time around that both James and Carlos were starting to suffer from the real possibility not passing senior year. "Last year you almost fail, James. Don't forget that."

"But in the end I didn't!" he replied "And, actually, I learned from that experience. I got excellent grades in every subject… Except for Math." Kendall giggled with that comment, kind of skeptical. "It's the only topic that I could fail, but I made some calculations and I found that I just need a 65% on my final exam to guarantee my graduation."

"Cool, James! I'm happy to see you finally be able to relax at the end of the year. Now we just need to know if Carlos is in the danger-zone or not." He looked around, trying to search the previously mentioned boy with no success. He finally turned to stare at James with a nostalgic spark in his eyes. "Hey...Carlos' getting to school pretty late, isn't he?"

"Yeah; it is pretty weird; he hates school, but he's ever been so late before," James looked at his wristwatch, becoming alarmed when he noticed that there was only five minutes left until eight. "Damn it! I'm losing my time with Alice!"

"You guys were supposed to meet up before class?" James nodded and Kendall just smiled at him. "What are you waiting for? Go get her." He barely started saying the question before James was already running frantically through the hallways in the direction of the last floor, where Alice was waiting him. She was tall with long, dark hair, golden eyes and a super-bright smile, so shiny and perfect, that even after six months and one day later, James could not stop staring at it and being completely speechless just like the first time he saw her. The girl opened her eyes and drew a smile on her lips after noticing that her lover was finally here.

"You're late," said the girl, after receiving a great, warm hug and a kiss on her cheek, courtesy of her beloved James.

"I know, sweetheart. I am so-so-so sorry! I just met the guys while walking here and time just flew by," he explained, downcast and sad. The young lady put her hands under James' chin, pushing his face up gently and placing a soft kiss on his lips. "I'm really sorry," he repeated.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for, you idiot," she muttered "I'm not mad. Besides, we spend all of yesterday afternoon together. You need your space as much as I need mine."

"You are totally right," Diamond smiled her, moving his face slowly towards Alice's, being interrupted less than a centimeter away from her lips by the annoying bell indicating the start of classes. Both Alice and James took the unfortunate situation with humor. "I suppose that bell saved you, Campbell," he joked.

"But it did not save you, Mister Diamond" replied Alice, pulling the teenager towards her by his shirt's collar, forcing the contact. The kiss was unexpected, but it was slow and sentimental, with no rush. They were in that position for several seconds, until both remembered at the same time that life was still going on around them and broke the kiss. Alice was the first to talk once both had recovered their breath, "Where are you going to be at break-time?"

"Library; I have to study with the guys," answered James while he wrapped his arms around her back for a soft hug.

"So you'll be busy," James' smile was erased from his face. "Aww, don't be sad," Alice tiptoed in order to approach his boyfriend's forehead and kiss it, "I will see you at lunch-time, what do you think?"

"Of course" James smiled, remembering once again that the bell had already rung and he cannot allow himself to be late, "I'll see you at lunch-time then, my precious!" He gave her a good-bye kiss.

"Take care, baby" she answered tenderly while she looked him walking off as fast as he could, going downstairs to the second floor, turning on the left hallway, where he saw his Chemistry teacher about to close the door. He could not be late again. He will not be late again. Ever.

"Professor Coleman!" he yelled with all his might after noticing that even running won't get him there on time "Wait for me, please!" The man saw James and stopped closing the door, waiting for the late boy. "Thank you so much, Professor!" said James once he was in front of him, getting inside the classroom with a winning smile.

"I hope that this situation never happens again, Mr. Diamond. If you are late again, you will stay outside," replied the teacher, while he finally closed the door. James cast his eyes over the classroom, searching for Logan and Kendall. "And the message is for all the rest of the class, as well." After finding them, the boy went to the seat that his friends saved for him, as they did every time that he came up late. "Okay people, silence please," said the teacher after Diamond sat, to start the class, "We will continue with nomenclature, so please take out your books and open it on page 214…" The class continued as usual, with Logan and Kendall taking notes and being completely focused on the class, while James feigned attentiveness when, in fact, he had his eyes fixed on the wall, thinking about Alice and copying just the sentences that the teacher repeated twice from the book. And he would've continued if he didn't noticed the sudden silence on the room. He turned his face, looking as his teacher turned the knob to open the door and let Carlos Garcia in. James sharpened his sight, completely surprised of the boy's appearance: his eyes, the same ones that always seemed to shine, now looked tired and reddish, without considering the dark rings around his eyes. His permanent smiled had fade away letting him a face of pure seriousness and indifference. His body did not seem to have its habitual power-plant-like energy that was his more denoted quality; it was obvious all the tiredness that he carried on his shoulders. "I am surprised to see you come in late, Mr. Garcia," said the teacher with a strict voice tone, although it was obvious that he was as worried as everyone inside the room. "Please, come in and take a seat," he added.

"Thanks," muttered the young Garcia barely audible, entering the classroom in silence and head-bowed. He gave a quick look around, noticing the curious looks of his classmates, especially the ones his best friends had. His friends looked to the empty seat that they reserved for him. Carlos ignored them and dropped his backpack next to a seat at the back of the classroom, throwing himself into the chair. The entire class commented the unusual appearance of the young man, until the teacher raised the book on his desk and let it fall, suddenly silencing the students with the generated noise. Once the class was focused again on the teacher, he continued the class as normal, starting to read again and being followed by the entire group, except for the three boys whose faces reflected nothing but a bottomless preoccupation, and also with the exception of the recently incorporated boy, whose head was over his desk, sleeping.

"I don't know about you guys," James whispered to his friends, "But I'm pretty sure that the guy who entered was not Carlos."

"I'm with you on this one, James" Logan supported him, "Carlos was never so lifeless before." His eyes wondered over to Kendall, surprised that he didn't take the floor on this one seeing how it regarded something as special to him as Carlos. "What do you think, Kendall?"

"Honestly, I don't have a clue," he said, kind of sad. "He always told me what's wrong before. Maybe he just couldn't sleep last night or something like that." Diamond and Mitchell nodded in agreement while both dedicated a last glance to the sleeping boy on the last row of chairs before backtracking their minds on to nomenclature. The class continued as usual until the bell rang and the class started to leave the room. Kendall was really worried about Carlos; of his three best friends, he was the first one he met, and was also the one he was closest to. Even when he told Logan and James that maybe Carlos just had a bad night, at the bottom of his heart he knew that Carlos' appearance today was nothing but the result of little changes in his attitude, changes which were now visible to everyone that saw him. He noticed Carlos' changes a long time ago, but he related them to stress or worries about the future. He was wrong. And he needed to know what was happening right now. He said goodbye to Logan and James, and he waited next to the door for Carlos, who left the room a bit slower due to the fact that he was awaken from the noises of his classmates when they started to exit into the hallway. "Carlos, wait!" he exclaimed at the moment he saw that the dark-skinned boy was about ready to prowl by the hallway. The Latino stopped once he heard his name but he did not turn, making Kendall walk to him, putting a hand on the younger one's shoulder once he was next to him. "Carlos," Kendall repeated, "Is everything okay? Dude, you look horrible!"

"Yeah, Ken," he muttered without force, "I just had a bad night, that's all. Nothing to worry about."

"Nightmares or insomnia?" asked Knight with curiosity while staring at him.

"A bit of both," he replied, "I need to take a leak. See you later, okay?"

"Sure," said an animated Kendall. Carlos looked him in the eyes and hinted a smile for a couple of seconds, trying to calm Kendall a bit, who smiled him back. But both boys stopped lying to themselves once each disappeared from the other's line of sight, returning to their faces of indifference for Carlos' side, and anguish for Kendall's. He went towards library to help Logan with James. But he was not being useful: He was distracted. Carlos has been his friend since they were on kindergarten, and therefore he almost had a brother-close bond with him. Knight always noticed when Carlos lied to him, but he almost never pointed that out to him; he doesn't have problems with little white lies, but he scolded him when they were important ones. This time he had lied to him when he said that he just had a bad night, but he also knew that in that moment he could not do anything more to find out what happened with Carlos, so he just questioned himself about what reasons that Carlos could have had to want to hide something from his closest friend. Something was not good with him, he concluded, and he was going to discover what it was. No matter how far he had to go, he was going to get the bottom of this.

However, the first hint came to him earlier than he expected, during Math test. Logan had already finished it and Kendall was just about to, while James, who was quite confused, answered the few questions that he managed to understand, which was barely a third of the test. Carlos, on the other hand, was again at the back of the classroom, sleeping, using his arm as a pillow, and playing down the importance of the evaluation under his face. When Kendall finally got the answer to the last problem, he sat up after making a clearer copy of his answers, grabbed the paper in order to deposit it onto the teacher's desk. The teacher gave him a serious look.

"Mr. Knight," he said loudly, causing the class to lose their concentration, focusing their eyes on the teacher and his new victim. "You and I are going to talk during lunch. It is a very delicate issue so don't even think about not coming or you will see the consequences of not doing what I say." Intimidated and scared after that sentence, Kendall was just able to nod his head and leave the room in total silence. "You have 15 minutes left, class," he said after noticing that several people were still staring at him besotted, James among one of those. "Don't waste your time. Hurry and finish your tests," he concluded, angry.

Exactly as the teacher had asked him, Kendall ate his lunch as fast as he could before giving James a few up-lifting words, seeing how he had only answered half of the test, and shot off towards the Math teacher's room, where the mentioned was waiting for him with his always serious look, although there was also visible sadness in his eyes. _'Sad and worry to be more exactly,'_ Kendall mentally corrected himself before talking, "Well, teacher, here I am, what did you want to see me for?"

"I think you know perfectly why I called you here," he said softly, surprising Kendall with that attitude. The blonde-haired boy looked at him confused, forcing his teacher to be more specific and answer the question previously raised. "I want to talk with you about the situation of Carlos Garcia," he explained. Kendall was surprised yet again after hearing those words; it seems that his friend's problems were more complicated than he ever expected. The teacher saw Kendall's worry face and realized that the boy understood that as if the school was about to expel Carlos, so he tried to explain himself again. "It's nothing currently serious," he said calmly. "It's just that teachers have noticed some negative attitudes that Carlos had never shown before, and we want to see what we can do in order to revert that situation before Carlos' permanence starts to be in danger." Kendall was still confused: He understood what his teacher wanted to say, but why he call him? Why did he not talk with Carlos first, or why he did not call Logan and James too? Everybody at school knew that the four boys were best friends since first year and every time one of the four had problems, the other three were always there to help him. "I suppose that you want to know the reasons of why I just called you," Kendall nodded in agreement. "It was because I know that you are the one with the closest relationship towards Carlos, and because you are the only one that have some kind of communication with his mother, besides himself."

"The thing that I can't get clear yet," he articled after a huge effort "Is why you didn't talk to Carlos in first place, before coming to me."

"I asked that he stay to talk with me several times and he never did," answered the teacher while he was leafing through the tests that Kendall and the class did it last hour. "That is one of the problems that have worried the teachers; his total drop out towards his student responsibilities," he added while he took out one of the tests, giving it to Kendall. "That's the exam that Carlos did today," he detailed.

"He just wrote his name!" he exclaimed, surprised after noticing that the test has no answers. He didn't even draw the usual doodles that the Latino used to do when he was completely lost. "I cannot believe it," he added.

"I can't believe it either," said the teacher, taking back Carlos' test. "He usually made some attempt to get the right answer, but this time he didn't even bother to read it; he started to sleep after I gave him the paper," he took his hands to his head, "Besides, he is arriving late to school, he falls asleep in almost every class he has and he had not done any of the work the teachers give him. It is like he had lost all his spirit." He sat up, placing a hand on Kendall's shoulder, "Kendall, please think, are you completely sure that you don't have any idea of what can be wrong with Carlos to make him behave like this?"

"He hasn't told me or the guys anything," he said, shaking his head. "We just know that he broke up with Stephanie King about a week ago. But he didn't tell us; it was Stephanie who came and asked if we knew the reason why he ended it with her. Carlos just broke up with her for no reason."

"Kendall, nobody changes like Carlos did without having a good reason behind. I am going to ask you, as Carlos' teacher and at the same time as Carlos' friend, that you try to find out what is wrong with him. Please," he begged "He needs help. We tried to call his father but we could not contact him due to his job, and his mother is in Alabama, if I am correct." Kendall nodded. "I will try to call her, and if you can, you try to call too. Do you have her number?"

"Don't worry, teach. I have it," Kendall shook hands with his teacher, "I'll keep you updated. I promise. I have to go now. I'll see you later, teach," he said.

"Good luck, Kendall," he said while the young man abandoned the room. Kendall went upstairs onto the building's terrace, thinking about everything he had discussed with his teacher. Nothing made sense: What could be so bad as to wipe out the happiness of a boy that had always smiled at life, and at the same time, so complicated that even his best friends knew nothing of the situation at hand? He started to search for hints in his conversation with his teacher in order to build some kind of theory about what was happening with him.

_'I asked that he stay to talk with me several times and he never did.'_

Carlos loved everyone. His math teacher was not an exception. Besides, Carlos had a very deep respect to him. Every time his teacher asked somebody's help, whatever he needed, Garcia's hand was always the first raised and his mouth was the first to say, "I am on it". But now, if Carlos was able to keep himself awake and kind of concentrated on the class, if his brown eyes made contact with his teacher's, the dark-skinned boy would quickly averted his eyes, scared that if he maintained visual contact with him, that he would be forced to solve a problem on the board or be asked something. The reason for it wasn't that he was afraid to make a mistake, but for the reason that Carlos didn't want to face him. Another, much more serious and deeper reason…

_'… He is arriving late to school, he falls asleep in almost every class he has…'_

If Carlos Garcia had been known for anything in the Palm Woods High School, it was, besides for his charisma and funny personality, for his capacity of keeping himself active in every class and for being some kind of tireless energy source. He always spent the breaks playing some sport on the school's field, or just running around the entire building. It was hard to believe that the those qualities were of a boy that, these days, fell asleep in each class he had, and disappear from everyone's at breaks, coming back mysteriously when the bell advertised the return to classes. Nobody had any idea of where he went during those 15 minutes of freedom, and almost nobody seems to care…

_'… We just knew that he broke up with Stephanie King about a week ago…'_

Stephanie and Carlos started his relationship about a year ago, during the end-of-the-year dance, after a couple months of flirting and directly-indirect throwing. They were like any high school couple; they had their fights and their differences, but at the end, the love each one had for the other was strong enough to face all the obstacles and survive to be stronger than ever. About a month ago, Kendall received a text message from the girl, which said that her relationship with Carlos was hanging by a thread: Carlos was not visiting her, or calling her, and the few times they did meet up, she noticed that he was distracted and sad. Kendall told her that she had to talk to him to try to see what was happening with him, but both saw the same fake smile and both heard that everything was fine, knowing that it was not. Carlos sent his breaking-up message about a week ago, which also stated that she shouldn't try to look for him or force him to give her the reasons why, because he just couldn't tell her and seeing her only hurted him more. King went then to Knight, Mitchell, and Diamond, but none of the boys could gave her the information she was searching for. In fact, none of them knew about the break-up until she told them. It was as surprising and strange to his best friends, especially to Kendall. Until the last time, Carlos was a real gentleman with her, and everyone knew it. It made no sense that he would suddenly stop paying attention to her and break up with her without a reason…

_'… We tried to call his father but we could not contact him due to his job, and his mother is in Alabama, if I am correct…'_

Carlos' parents have been divorced for about three years now. They had a talk with the, at the time, fourteen-year old teenager to explain him their situation, and even though he did not want to accept the fact that his parents don't love each other anymore, he had to. The first few weeks were the worst of his life, and the only thing he wanted to do was to move with his mother to Alabama, where she lived until today. He even made a plan to do it, but he realized that it was simply impossible due to his friends, who managed to calm him and explain to him that, for now at least, she was not in any condition to be taking care of him; he would be new to Alabama and she did not even have a job. Finally Carlos forgot about the idea, but he figured out another way to see her: He saved half of his lunch money and his pocket money in order visit to her every three months, with the excuse of spending the weekend with one of his friends. He hasn't been found out yet, thanks to the tactics that his friends used against his father. With those visits, and a closer relationship to his father, Carlos finally managed to deal with the pain of his parents' divorce. Or, at least, that was what Carlos wanted everybody to believe…

Those thoughts, along with some others kept Kendall's mind busy until it time to go home. At least he was starting to have some clearer ideas in his mind: Whatever the problem that Carlos was having was, it was something against his will, and that it had direct relations with his loved ones, factors that were destroying him internally, leaving him in a state of depression and indifference. It started about a couple months ago, at least, and Carlos tried to continue as if nothing was happened, but it was stronger than him, and that was really worrying. With that information, Kendall was now able to formulate a plan in order to find out what was going on with Carlitos. He was stuck between two choices: on one hand, he could talk with him seriously and in private, forcing him to tell the truth, while, on the other hand, he could follow him and take note of what he was doing. Knight doubted that he could get information out of him if he talks with Carlos, otherwise he had already gone to him for help, and he considered that spying on people was wrong, even when it was understandable and almost a necessity. In conclusion, neither option was proper for him, but at the moment he could not think of any other choices, so, like it or not, he was going to have to do one of them as soon as possible, at least until he thinks of a better plan. He got back to focus on getting out of the school when he saw the Latino a few meters in front of him, walking with his head down, slow and dispirited. Kendall had a lump on his throat: he was between impotence and affection. Impotence for not being able to help Carlos, thinking that made him fill with rage and frustration. He wanted to grab Carlos by the collar of his shirt, pushing him against a wall and demand him to tell him everything that was happening to him, without omitting even a single detail. He was capable of doing it, and he wanted to too, but it was in the transition from thinking to action when affection made its play. If he did that, the most probable outcome would be that Carlos ran away, scared, and there was nothing worse to Kendall than seeing his best friend scared or crying, especially when the fear and tears were for his doing. He could not be aggressive with Carlos; he was like a little boy to Kendall. In fact, he saw him as the little brother that he never had, and Carlos knew it, and liked that feeling. He had to be careful and approach him carefully in order to not scare him, but now he needed to find out how to approach him without disturbing him, and at the moment, that was only possible by watching him.

Fortunately, Kendall saw that Carlos was not taking the usual path home; instead, he was walking in the opposite direction. Knight again doubted what he had to do at that moment: He still found that following Carlos was wrong, but he could convince himself mentally that he was not spying, that he was just going with Carlos to wherever he was going, as best friends usually do, only that this time Carlos did not know that Kendall was going with him. The blonde boy started to walk a few meters behind him, careful not making any kind of noise that could make the Latino turn around and see him. Garcia walked without looking around, as if he had gone down this path since he born, or that was Kendall thought, seeing that he continued without even looking up to make sure that he was on the right corner. Kendall gulped nervously as soon as he noticed that he was entering the area of the city that his mother called the 'dangerous neighborhoods' of the city. Now everything was even more confusing: What was a sweet and innocent boy like Carlos doing in a place like this? The possibilities were so vast and at the same time so little, all weird and terrifying. Knight started to despair and stress while both he and the Latino were going deeper and deeper into this dangerous area. In the air was a nauseating and impregnating smell of alcohol and urine, strays knocked down blocked both guys' path at least three times per block, and he felt as though people next to him were angry at him for being there, almost as they knew he didn't belong. Kendall just could not believe that Carlos was walking by these people with so much indifference: He never went alone to any place that he considered dangerous. The persistent stench and the mental confusion began to make Kendall sick, as his stomach urged him to puke more at every second that passed. He wished so badly that this kind of nightmare that he was in ended once and for all.

His wishes were heard, but he didn't know if it was due to his luck or his unluckiness. Carlos stopped in front of a three floor building that was in terrible state. Kendall hid himself at the back of a truck while he watched as the minor entered the building, hearing the wood creak with each and every step that the Latino gave. When the noises stopped Kendall crossed the street, putting himself behind another car in order to have a better angle of vision oh his friend. And there Carlos was, on the last floor, knocking on one of the doors, which one opened and allowed him in. After that it was a heartbreading silence for Kendall; it was there where Carlitos' life was being sucked away from him by a God-knows-what monster. He wanted to go up there, break down the door, and finish off anyone and everyone who were hurting his brother, but he had to hold back. He didn't know if Carlos would be able to see somebody suffer even when they were bad guys, and he neither knew how many people were behind those doors, much less if they were armed or not. Totally against his will, he started to run towards his house, not before he took note of Carlos' secret place, of course. It was his only clue, besides any information that he could get if he asked Carlos why he took a different route when classes finished. Once he was in front of his house, he took a long and deep breath, glad for the feeling of fresh air in his lungs again. He entered fast, sad and tired. His mother went out with his younger sister to buy some things, according to a note they left him. Knight decided to take a bath after all this, so he turned on the hot water's tap and stripped, shivering when his naked body made contact with the warm water. He closed his eyes and tried to meditate, searching for the answers to all his questions: How will he continue with this sleuthing? Who will he tell when he finds something of importance? Will Carlos forgive him if he screwed up? No question seemed to have a proper answer, and he was also dead tired to keep thinking. He finally left the bathroom and went to his room, ready to hit the sack when he suddenly jumped, running to his closet and to start searching for some of his best clothes.

He almost forgot his date with Jo.

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So? Hope you liked it. This will be kind of slow at first, but always interesting. Please review if you liked (And if you don't too, but make a constructive critic!). See you in chapter 2! _**"Kisses, **_**_insomnia, detention and school-database hacking"_**


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